SNP's neglect of Scotland's colleges has more than a whiff of snobbery
If we want to invest in the next generation, we need to be ambitious for our colleges as well as our universities
During her year in Sweden on the European student exchange scheme, Evie lived independently in a new country, learned how to present her essays to an audience, made friends from across the continent and even watched the Northern Lights on Christmas Day.
Half a decade on, she describes Erasmus as " the best thing I ever did”. But Evie was one of the last Scottish students to participate in Erasmus, which Boris Johnson's Tory government shut down in the UK in 2020.
The programme – which included grants to help with travel and visa costs – was taken away from the students who came after her. Now that door of opportunity is opening again, after the UK Labour government agreed a deal with the EU to join the Erasmus+ programme in 2027.
Importantly, though, it isn’t just university students who benefit – the Erasmus programme of today includes opportunities for apprentices, further education students and adult learners, such as work placements in German engineering companies. It even extends to sports coaches who want to develop partnerships, teachers and lecturers who want to learn about best practice and school groups embarking on cultural exchanges.
Anyone can benefit from working or studying abroad – it shouldn’t matter whether you are at an ancient university like St Andrew’s or an apprentice shipbuilder on the Clyde.
This principle is in sharp contrast to the attitude of this SNP government. Colleges are a bedrock of our education system, teaching in-demand but under-respected skills like mechanic repairs, dental and pharmaceutical support, caring and computing.
They have a larger proportion of students from deprived backgrounds than universities, not to mention care leavers, and are crucial in ensuring that young people enter employment and adult learners can gain more skills.
Yet the SNP has slashed funding for colleges by 20 percent in real terms between 2021/22 and 2025/26, according to a recent Audit Scotland report. Colleges have cut costs by reducing class times, increasing class sizes and revising timetables, all of which have a knock-on impact on students.
The number of staff too have plummeted, with 10,112 FTE staff now employed in colleges in 2023-24 - a decrease of 6.4 per cent over the last decade. The neglect of colleges from a party that boasts of its record on university tuition fees has more than a whiff of snobbery.
If we want to invest in the next generation, we need to be ambitious for our colleges as well as our universities.
And there is plenty that can be done.
In my constituency, students will benefit from West College Scotland’s new agreement with City College Plymouth to develop the skills needed for the defence sector. As part of this, both colleges will share specialist knowledge, work together on curriculum design and provide joint training opportunities for teachers.
The initiative was announced in response to the UK Government’s Defence Industrial Strategy – meanwhile, the SNP refused to fund a welding college because of an ideological ban on funding anything that has anything to do with munitions.
Those who mourned the end of the Erasmus scheme in 2020 were rightly dismayed at the idea of shutting down opportunities for young people.
But we need to make sure we are providing those opportunities at home too.
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